Immerse yourself in the exciting, intriguing field of psychology, helping individuals or organizations overcome problems and pursue healthy lives.

How the program works:

You can choose from one of two tracks in this 42- to 48-credit Master of Science program:

Counseling Psychology Track

This 48-credit track offers you the option to pursue one of two optional specializations or to complete a standard counseling psychology curriculum. Any of the three options can be completed in two years (including summers) of full-time study, though about half of our students attend part time.

The Practitioner Specialization is geared toward students who want to obtain licensure and work as professional counselors. The Science Specialization is designed for students who aspire to careers in research and/or those who want to pursue a Ph.D. in counseling or clinical psychology.

In any of the three options, you'll explore:

counseling theory and skills

professional identity, legal and ethical aspects of practice

assessment

psychopathology and diagnosis

career development

supervised field experience and more.

In the Science Specialization, you'll focus on the scientific foundations of psychology and can choose to complete a thesis in an area of interest.

The Practitioner Specialization offers coursework required for state licensure as a professional counselor and for the National Certified Counselor credential. This includes the eight content areas tested in the National Counselor Exam, which many states require for licensure. While in this program, you'll also begin accumulating the hours of supervised psychotherapy experience required for state licensure.

This specialization is ideally paired with UB's post-master's Certificate in Professional Counseling Studies, which allows you to build upon your M.S. degree to complete the 60 credits of graduate study necessary to practice independently as a licensed clinical professional counselor in Maryland and for similar licensure throughout the United States.

Our students have a nearly perfect (99 percent) first-time pass record on the National Counselor Exam.

Your professors:

Faculty members in our graduate program in applied psychology are experts in counseling and psychotherapy, psychological assessment, social psychology, career assessment and research, and personnel and organizational behavior.

Helping pay for your degree:

To help you learn while putting your skills into practice, and to offset the cost of your education, competitive, merit-based graduate research assistantships provide full tuition and a stipend. Learn more.

Primarily for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Track students, the Schaefer Center for Public Policy offers selective fellowships for full-time students to work on the center's applied research projects. In addition, there are opportunities for students to work as student assistants or as research assistants on various center projects. Deadlines are April 15 (for the fall semester) and Oct. 15 (for the spring semester).